For Japanese and English Language Learners

Japanese language fluent foreigners.

A little while ago, I was at a consumer electronics retail store in Nagoya in Japan for shopping. While searching for an item I needed, I overheard a conversation of a young woman and an old gentleman close to me. At the beginning, that didn’t attracted my interest at all.

That was just an explanation about an item in Japanese, probably the woman should be a seller and the gentleman should be a customer. I felt nothing in particular, until they said as that;
The woman: I’m Vietnamese.
The gentleman: Really? I’m American.
They talked that in fluent Japanese. Absolutely natural, so that I couldn’t notice that they’d come from Vietnam and America.
I hope to become fluent in English as they are in Japanese…
That’s why I wrote this sentence now. Practices give people improvements. Everything is up to me.

■did + 原形

… didn’t attract my interest

■conversation between

conversation of A and B ではなく conversation between A and B が普通。

conversation of を使うのは、of の後が集合名詞の場合

https://ejje.weblio.jp/concordance/content/conversation?pageNo=2

■was shopping

どちらも正しいが、後者のほうが簡潔ですね。

I was at a consumer electronnics retail store for shopping

I was shopping at a consumer electronnics retail store

■close to me

standing がなくてもいいけど、あると物理的に近いという意味が明確。(closeは親密という意味にも使われる）

I overheard a conversation of a young woman and an old gentleman close to me.

I overheard a conversation of a young woman and an old gentleman standing close to me.

■at the beginning, in the beginning

atは一点のイメージ。この話は一点ではないので in the beginning のほうがよい。

In the beginning, that didn’t attract my interest

■同一の動詞の省略

be が２回続くのを省略しても良い。

probably the woman should be a seller and the gentleman should be a customer.

probably the woman must have been a seller and the gentleman a customer.

■guess を使うことも可能

I guessed the woman was a seller and the gentleman was probably a customer.

■make + something + verb

Practice を単数形で使う。 make something to verb の用法もあるらしいが、to なしのほうが自然。

Practices give people improvements.

Practice makes people improve.

Practice makes perfect. という成句があるらしい。

■ while, as

While searching for

As I was searching for

■manner

They said that in fluent Japanese, and in an absolutely natural manner that I would have never guessed they were foreigners from Vietnam and America.